Jean-Michel Aulas elected President of the G-14

Published on the 16 May 2007 à 19:45 by BV

Jean-Michel Aulas was this afternoon elected to the G-14 presidency. After a pointed tribute to his predecessor David Dein, the Olympique Lyonnais President discussed his “big responsibility in a high-profile role”.

Jean-Michel Aulas was this afternoon elected to the G-14 presidency. After a pointed tribute to his predecessor David Dein, the Olympique Lyonnais President discussed his “ big responsibility in a high-profile role”: “It’s with much humility but also a lot of ambition that I accepted it. It’s not that I hesitated but I gave it a lot of thought”.
“In the end it took the persuasive force of my colleagues from the Management Committee to convince me to take the position”, he said. “We’ve responded to a unanimous request from the Management Committee.”
“There is a lot at stake for all the clubs concerned”, he noted before discussing his relationship with UEFA President Michel Platini. “Michel Platini is an intelligent man who has displayed a lot of savoir-faire in being elected head of UEFA. The privileged relationship that I hope to establish with him could be a strong element in convincing the Management Committee.”

He also discussed the enlargement of the G-14, which he hopes to effect quickly. “The G-14 is a positive force for action and not a force for opposition. The organisation brings together clubs who participate in European competitions and acts as a link between them. It’s up to us to be convincing – which is why we want to enlarge the G-14 rather quickly. We want to produce intelligent and credible results”.

An enlargement motivated by two main factors: “An enlargement to make redundant arguments saying that the G-14 only concerns itself with elitist clubs and a geographical enlargement dear to Michel Platini’s heart that will allow less “fashionable” nations to have a certain number of representatives. An effective cocktail that will allow many propositions to be submitted while maintaining the dynamism that will allow things to progress smoothly and quickly”.